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. 2011 Feb;119(2):A70-4.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.119-a70.

Does the smoke ever really clear? Thirdhand smoke exposure raises new concerns

Adrian Burton

Does the smoke ever really clear? Thirdhand smoke exposure raises new concerns

Adrian Burton. Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Feb.
No abstract available

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Thirdhand smoke consists of residual tobacco smoke pollutants that 1) remain on surfaces and in dust after tobacco has been smoked, 2) are re-emitted back into the gas phase, or 3) react with oxidants and other compounds in the environment to yield secondary pollutants.
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Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Public Health believes one potentially meaningful question is whether significant exposure to toxic THS constituents could occur as a result of smoke absorbed onto a smoker’s clothing. “This question is important because it determines whether or not smokers who smoke only outside the home nevertheless place their children at potential risk,” he says.
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Georg Matt of San Diego State University points out that in the absence of any hard evidence of actual long-term health effects of THS, many nonsmokers—and former smokers—have already been sensitized to the phenomenon. “The most important impact of the efforts to prevent exposure to thirdhand smoke may be . . . the reduction of health risks from active smoking and secondhand smoke exposure,” he says.
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References

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    1. Watson T. New Tobacco Danger: ‘Third-Hand Smoke.’. AOL News, Nation section, Health subsection. Feb 8, 2010. [[accessed 12 Jan 2011]]. Available: http://tinyurl.com/4h47p6y.
    1. Carcinogens Form from Third-Hand Smoke. ScienceDaily, Science News section. Feb 9, 2010. [[accessed 12 Jan 2011]]. Available: http://tinyurl.com/ybr7ek9.

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